Am I the only one who is annoyed - even angry - that Thames isn't up here with the Jays?

The continued presence of non-contributors like Rivera and Encarnacion certainly test the tolerance of the hometown faithful.

I wonder if Rivera's ability to play first base hasn't given him a reprieve from being released. Maybe once Lind has proven that his back is better and that he can take the field every day...

As for EE, at some point (soon, one imagines) the organization is going to have to concede that this just ain't working out. Last year's homeruns have become this year's doubles. A once passable walk rate has deteriorated. Let him be another organization's project.

Am I the only one a little worried about this pre-draft deal business?  These sorts of things tend to spiral especially if one team decides to make a big deal about this.  I don't see it outside the realm of possibility that a team, frustrated by the Jays ability to acquire new talent, make a stink to the commissioner's office and the Jays getting penalized accordingly. 

With that being said, AA is a smart guy and I don't see him getting caught or breaking any written rules.  I'd think that the Jays probably had some sort of agreement that had the Jays drafted Beede in that spot there was a ballpark number that the Jays would meet.  Sortof like, if we draft you in the first round, will you sign for $2.5 million.  Beede probably indicated that he would.  They do this all the time, for example Knecht recently indicated that the Jays came to him and asked him if the Jays drafted him in a certain spot would he sign for X dollars.  

Also for you prospect junkies out there.  Have a look at Ronald Guzman.  The Jays have apparently been linked to him.  He's gotta have one of the nicest swings and approachs to hitting I've ever seen out of a 16-year old.  He probably ends up in LF or 1B long-term, but my gosh he will hit. 

Check him out on www.youtube.com

In regards to EE I couldn't agree more. First off, the guy was given a 2.5 mil contract this year because of his potential with the  bat because his defense was mediocre at best at 3rd. Last year he mashed 21 HRs in only 332 PA which would extrapolate to about 30 HRs over a full season while batting a pedestrian .244 which would have been ok IF he continued his HR pace he was on last year, while playing average 3rd base. But it hasn't worked out at all. His BA is a bit higher thus far this year at .263, but like you said, his HRs have mysteriously morphed into doubles with only 2 dingers in 175 ABs and his defense has been very poor at 3rd and absolutely deplorable in his limited, and I assume experimental time, at 1st base.

With the great season and improvements recently shown by Lawrie the heir apparent at 3rd, I would think once he comes back from his hand injury after the Allstar break Edwin will be relagated to the bench and only used as an occasional relief at 3rd, spot DH and PH and be lucky if he lasts till the end of the season with the Jays. One can only hope. I've been amazed at how bad his D has been this year. It's like once in a decade a team winds up with defensive short comings by a player like him.  

....As for EE, at some point (soon, one imagines) the organization is going to have to concede that this just ain't working out....

The only thing that might be delaying this moment is the evidence that EE hits much better as a DH than as a 3B or 1B.  He's still posting a .928 OPS as a DH, compared to .552 as a 1B and .505 as a 3B.  This fits with the theory that EE allows his defensive woes to mess with his mind and distract him from hitting.  He was originally signed as a DH this year, so the Jays might want to give him a bit more time to see if he can maintain the good numbers as a DH.  In the past three weeks, he has been hitting almost exclusively as a DH, and his numbers have been much better.  He has dragged himself up from a .590 OPS to a .684 OPS.  So the Jays might want to see if this continues.   On the other hand, his 0-for-5 last night against the Orioles is perhaps a sign that even this little DH-aided run might be ending.  If that's true, he won't be kept around much longer.

Don't be mad, after all, it is just a game.

And there's one more important point about Encarnacion:  who else would be a better choice for DH at this point in a rebuilding season?  Rivera is actually hitting worse than Encarnacion, so there's no point in replacing EE with Rivera.  Obviously the other bench players are even worse.  And would you want to put Thames or Loewen or Cooper at the DH position for the rest of this season, thereby preventing them from gaining valuable experience in their defensive roles?  Sure, it's possible (even probable) that Thames will hit better than Encarnacion for the rest of this season.  But that would prevent Thames from getting any experience at LF, where he surely needs the work.  Thames might get the occasional spot start instead of Patterson, but basically he would be the DH and he would not be getting the LF experience that he needs.

If you want, you can argue that Thames has a better future than Patterson and therefore Thames should be playing LF instead of Patterson.  But that's nothing to do with the issue of what to do with Encarnacion.

Alternatively you could argue that Snider is the LF of the future and therefore Thames has no real future at LF and should be playing at DH instead of Encarnacion this season.  But I doubt very much that the Jays are willing to write off any possibility of Thames being a full-time LF in the future.  Apart from anything else, it would severely damage his trade value, if the Jays want to include Thames in a trade package for a 2B or whatever.

Recent tweets from Justin Jackson and Deck McGuire imply that both have been promoted to AA.

Am I reading too much into this tweet and reply?

Baseball America has another article about international signings, this time shortstops.  The first name mentioned is linked to the Blue Jays.

Dawel Lugo has earned wide-ranging praise from scouts as one of the top shortstops in the Dominican Republic, though many of them believe he'll have to move to third base eventually. He should command more than $1 million, with the Blue Jays mentioned most frequently as his possible destination.

The story goes on to say some scouts don't believe he needs to move off shortstop.

But that would prevent Thames from getting any experience at LF, where he surely needs the work.  Thames might get the occasional spot start instead of Patterson, but basically he would be the DH and he would not be getting the LF experience that he needs....If you want, you can argue that Thames has a better future than Patterson and therefore Thames should be playing LF instead of Patterson."

Then for the love of GAWD get rid of Patterson, what's the point? at this point. Which is surely what everyone is thinking. And further down the line, what is the point of Davis? Upgrades pleaseeee.  Thames, Snider, Cooper, Lawrie get up here soon, get AB's, and let AA figure this whole thing out for going forward. You couldn't even trade the current 25man roster bunk to Oakland as they'd be no upgrade even for them.

Hey, it looks like I'm reading a bit much into twitter these days.  More likely that JJ and McGuire are heading for new haircuts.

Law chimes in on the `deal` in his chat...

...yes, I heard that story last week, which is why I said right after the draft that I believed Beede would sign.

However, I didn't mention the predraft deal story because it would have triggered an MLB investigation. Cat's out of the bag now, though.

Didn't Law also say that Norris was drafted as insurance for Beede? 

If he already knew that Beede was going to sign, why would he think the Jays needed an insurance pick?

I find it difficult to take this man seriously as the expert/insider/polymath he markets himself as.

in the SSS June split Snider is up to a 1.019ops... He keeps that up for a few weeks (big IF), and he'll be up in here in less than a month IMO

He's still not hitting the ball over the wall (2 HR in 178 AB) and I wonder if that won't hold him back.

For Travis snider his at-bats have been getting better, as least from the box scores.  Let's look at yesterday:

1st AB - Travis Snider triples (1) on a fly ball to right fielder Willy Taveras

First, he must have hit the ball hard, the ball either went over Taveras's head or it went into the corner or to right centre but in any event it was hit hard.  Secondly the ballwas hit in the air and not on the ground.  Good at-bat

2nd AB - Travis Snider flies out to center fielder Dexter Fowler.

We dont know how hard the ball was hit but it was a weak fly ball they usually say soft fly ball so I would assume Travis hit it reasonably well, he just got under it and skied it.  Average AB

3rd AB - Travis Snider singles on a line drive to center fielder Dexter Fowler

Line drive - excellent at-bat.

4th AB - Travis Snider doubles (16) on a ground ball to center fielder Dexter Fowler

The first look says a ground ball is not good.  But he doubled off the ground ball which implies that it was hit hard, Fowler is no slouch in centre field and to get a double on a ground ball suggests it was hit hard into a gap.  Good at-bat.

When Travis first went down he was grounding out a lot, and many of his hits were ground balls through gaps in the infield.  Over the past few days he appears to be hitting the ball harder, and hitting it in the air, and that bodes well.

I don't expect to see him up here anytime soon, changes to swings take time to ingrain, but I am seeing signs of progress.

I also assume the Jays are targetting late July for Snider, Thames, etc. to come up once they trade or release the non-returners for 2012.

I see no problem with dropping Patterson.  In an emergency, Bautista can play CF and we just call up Maestro (or Loewen apparently) when the problem presents itself.